071019

The
B	aobab Bark www.baobabcollege.org
BAOBAB COLLEGE – News and Information Issue 14 2007/08 - 09 May 2008

Have you ever stopped to wonder why the musical “Grease” is so popular? Here we are, thirty years on, still presenting a production of “Grease” that not only we love as much as we did when we were teenagers but also our teenage children love performing and watching. That was very evident from the two recent performances in the school Hall. Is it because it is about teenagers? Is it because of the music that still gets folk dancing? Is it because we all fancy ourselves as being Danny or Sandy? (or because we just fancy them, full stop? Admit it!).

Whisper it softly (perhaps I could lose my job over this) but I have a bit of a problem with “Grease’. What? I loved the performances (both nights), I sang along with the songs, I certainly caught the mood, but I do struggle with it. I will explain but, first, let me ask you a question or three? Would you send your child to Rydall High? Do you want Baobab College to be like Rydall High? Or more bluntly, do you want your child to be like Danny, Sandy, Frenchie……?

We love the musical and yet I have to say the message it sends out is certainly not what I would wish this school to promote for your or any child. It says it’s cool to be cool, cruel, crude and rude. It suggests under-age drinking, smoking and sex are positive and just a laugh. It presents stealing and bullying as being acceptable. But more importantly though less obviously it is reinforcing the idea that we are valued according to how we dress and that we should just go with the crowd – when we hear the words “Goodbye Sandra Dee” we are in effect saying “Goodbye Sanity”. It’s saying people are objects whom we can pick up and drop at will, that being one of the crowd is more important than retaining one’s individuality, dignity and integrity. As an audience along with the cast we laugh at the one character who has positive features – the cheerleader who will encourage and support the school, the student council member who is willing to work hard for others. The biggest insult is when even Sandra Dee pushes over the enthusiastic Patty.

Do you think “my child isn’t like that; so I can amuse myself that other kids are like that?” Or do we just brush if off with “it’s only a bit of fun! Lighten up!” I will lighten up – and seek to enlighten each of us who are parents. We need to be very careful what we stand for and I seek to assure you that this school will try to be very careful that we do set high standards and expectations and values of our kids.

Many a sportsman’s mantra before playing a shot or game is “Ease and grace”. By “ease” they are suggesting it must be natural, consistent, steady, relaxed – by “grace” they are looking for a freedom, beauty, generosity. It looks so easy, so right, so perfect. It allows us the confidence to move on again after we make a mistake, with a dignity, humility, honesty. That should be our whole life’s mantra.

All too often though our attempts at “ease and grace” come to no more than “grease and face’ – they are dirty, slimy, sticky (grease) and superficial, forced, acting (face), simply an attempt to make life go by slickly.

The message of “Grease” is not one that this school will stand by – we seek to help pupils stand up as individuals within a community, building others up rather than tearing them down, recognising their equal worth as humans, setting standards and examples. Grace is actually the word we need to sing out and send out from this school - that is how we will be truly liberated.

I would like to begin by congratulating the cast and crew of Grease for putting on such a fantastic performance just before the long weekend. Clearly a number of hours had been spent working hard in order to provide performances of that quality. Well done to all the cast and also the members of staff involved for all their efforts. And we mustn’t forget the parents who had to do battle with Saturday traffic in order to get their children to rehearsals on time.

This week has also seen a hive of activity with Book Week. From Students in Years 7 to 9 writing books for Primary students to staff talking about their favourite books, it has been non stop. We have also had two sessions of DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) where the whole school has spent time reading their latest book. Many thanks to Mrs. Mann and her team for organising such an action packed week and we look forward to more of the same in the future. Many thanks also go to the P.T.A. for their latest donation of books for the Secondary Library. This, combined with the school’s efforts, has seen the quality and quantity of reading books available to Secondary students improve tremendously. Remember a book is not just for Book Week!

You should have received today the final Progress Sheet for your child for this academic year. The next report that you get will be the comprehensive end of year report available during the last week of term.

I would like to finish by wishing all of our CIE students the very best of luck as they begin their examination period on Monday 12^th May.

“TELL ME MORE, TELL ME MORE,” sang the characters in “GREASE”, the musical – so let me tell you more about the show. It was great – it was cool, even! Twenty youngsters from Year 7 through to Year 11 under the direction of Mr. Mubila and Mr Merryweather with the assistance of Mrs. Mann, danced and sang and acted (in fact everything short of lived!) the well-known and well-loved Grease over two nights to full houses, with an added bonus being a cameo role from Mr. Nick Lostrom (making it five Lostroms in the Show – not far short of “The Sound of Music”…….) as the wise angel figure.

And if ever the old axiom “It’ll be alright on the night” applied, it was for this show, as the cast and directors overcame power problems as well as difficulties in memorizing words to put on a show that radiated so that it was difficult to know who enjoyed it more, the cast or the audience. What was clear though was the very visible way that the whole cast grew in confidence as the shows went on, as they fed off the audience appreciation as well as each other’s lead.

Singing that began tentatively became stronger and on pitch; acting that started nervously soon became real and convincing, albeit in the stereotypical characterization that makes the show so enjoyable.

In that regard, the casting was spot-on from the young Julia Lostrom as the super-enthusiastic cheerleading Patty and the equally young Danielle Rose as the formidable teacher Miss Lynch to the older Juan Nel as the confident Konickie and Tafadzwa Mwinjilo as the ever-hopeful Sonny. Sepo Sitali and Chase Matakala both sang solos with clarity and strength while all characters danced (and jived) with flair and

Indeed, all the characters were worthy of high praise but special commendation must go to Laura Dingle and Alan Thompson for their performances as Sandy and Danny, which required considerable stamina and concentration for their several solos as well as holding the audience’s attention all the time they were on stage.

This was a brave production, with once again the contributions of musicians (Anthony Lostrom ably keeping the beat with Mr. Merryweather), backstage crew, set manufacturers, make-up artists, choreographers, sound and lighting, engineers, all giving a huge amount of time and energy.

As one visitor (with no connection to anyone in the show) commented to the Principal after the show: “You must be very proud of them!”. He is.

We have had a very successful six weeks of term with many exciting events already.

The Year Five children enjoyed their action packed adventure trip to Choma. Once again thank you to Mrs. Radford for organising the trips and thank you to Mr. Turner and Mr. Mann for going on the Year Five class trips. We are of course very grateful to The Bruce Miller camp for another successful trip to Choma. The Reception and Year One children also had a wonderful time camping and sleeping over at school. Thank you to Mrs. Dingle, Mrs. Grove, Mrs. Van Blerk, Mrs. Patel and Mrs. Nayee for making this all possible. I know we have already had one letter from one of the Reception children requesting if they can sleep over again at school. Reports on the trips to Choma and the Reception campout will follow in the next Bark.

Book Week has been enjoyed by all the children and the children still rate this as one of the best weeks of the year. Please see the next newsletter for more information. Many thanks for the very kind donations and

pledges to sponsor children for the spellathon. Many parents, relatives and friends have once again been extremely generous. The money will be put towards updating class libraries. If there are any sponsor forms still at home please bring these in.

Starting on Monday 19th May all children will have their eyes tested. This will be a free service. If you do not wish your child to have his/her eyes tested please contact Tombozi in the office.

As part of the Baobab Outdoor Education policy, the Year One classes camped out in the school grounds towards the end of last month.

After a normal day at school and following lunch in the canteen, they then set up camp. This was followed by a bush walk at Eureka campsite. Following showers and supper, they went stargazing on the sports field.

Hot chocolate and marshmallows were a treat before lights out. A big thank you to Mrs Dingle and Mrs Grove for giving up their home comforts for the night and to the Dads and members of staff who helped.

Optometrists from Vision Care Centre in Plot no. 64, Cha Cha Cha Road, South End, opposite Kariba House have kindly offered to carry out diagnostic eye screening on students from year one upwards at Baobab College.

This will be carried out, free of charge, by Mr. Vijay B. Reddy Anaka, Optometrist from 19^th May till 2^nd June 2008.

If you do not want your child to have this test please inform Tombozi at Reception by 12^th May 2008.

If any parents would like to advertise their business or services in the Baobab College 2008 magazine please contact Mr. Tim Middleton by 19^th May 2008.

Baobab played its first-ever tennis match on 25^th April away to A.I.S. Representing Baobab in a series of girls’ doubles, boys’ doubles and mixed doubles were the following: Nicole Ford, Kylie Grose, Nahla Kadoura, Karen Reini, Will Cairns, Troy Landing, Paul Ferriman, Salim Saadi, Anuj Kumar and the only Primary student to be included, Jandre Gunter.

Although going down 5-7 in the twelve-match encounter, Baobab players came away full of enthusiasm for a possible re-match in early June.

On Thursday, there were friendly hockey matches (U11 and U13) at AIS and today there is Rugby against LICS at Baobab and on Saturday ISAZ U15 hockey at AIS. Results from these matches will be published in the next edition of the Bark.

On Saturday, 17^th May the 10 Step Athletics Award will be held at LICS. Also on this day the U13 Rugby Tournament will be held at Musikili.

And finally, the Zambian Ladies Golf Team which included Devanshi Naik , was placed 4^th in the recent All Africa Challenge Trophy in Cairo. Well done.

Just to remind all pupils and parents that this Sunday is the long-awaited PTA Cyclathon. Initial registration will take place at AIS at 7.30am for the longest leg of 32kms from AIS to Baobab. For the middle leg of 16kms you

10kms you can register at 8.30am at Shoprite Kafue Parking area. Entry fees are K20,000 per cyclist over 12 years old. Those under 12 years can enter their own mini Cyclathon in the Baobab College grounds with an entry fee of K10,000. For the 4-11 year olds there will be a cycle route under the Baobab trees, at K2,000 per lap, from 8.30am to 11.30am. There will be an U11 and U9 race around the school field with prizes for the funniest dressed cyclist, 1^st place, determination etc. Register for this by 9.00am. The morning’s cycling will end with a barbeque and picnic in the school grounds. Meat packs and light refreshments will be on sale. Barbeque facilities will be provided. You are welcome to bring your own picnic baskets and cooler boxes. Any parent who would like to be a marshal at any en route point of entry please phone Laetitia 0979 666073 or be at AIS at registration time. SEE YOU ON SUNDAY.!

Bring them to the piazza and we’ll send them to someone in need outside of Lusaka.

Bring them to the piazza to help restock the second hand shop. We’ll pay for good quality kit.

Bring them to the piazza and help swell the stocks of the video library. Every Friday at the mums’ tea you can rent a video at K5,000 each for a week!

A big thank you to the PTA for their very generous donation of money which allowed both the Primary and Secondary libraries to purchase a large selection of new books.

“Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever” - (Unknown)

With Mother’s Day on Sunday, we thought we’d share a few thoughts and ideas on those very special people known as Mothers….

Job description: Long term team players needed for challenging permanent work in an often chaotic environment. Candidates must possess excellent communication and organizational skills and be willing to work variable hours, which include evenings and weekends and frequent 24 hour shifts on call. Some overnight travel required, including trips to primitive camping sites on rainy weekends and endless sports tournaments in faraway cities.

Responsibilities: Must have strong skills in negotiating, conflict resolution and crisis management. Must reconcile petty cash unless you want to hear “he got more than me!” for the rest of your life. Must be able to withstand criticism such as “You don’t know anything”. Must be willing to be hated at least temporarily and be willing to bite tongue repeatedly. Must be willing to be indispensable one minute, an embarrassment the next. Must have highly energetic entrepreneurial spirit because fundraiser will be your middle name.

Advancement/promotion possibilities: Virtually none. Your job is to remain in the same position for years, without complaining, constantly retraining and updating your skills, so that those in your charge can ultimately surpass you.

Wages and Compensation: You pay them, offering frequent raises and bonuses. When you die, you give them whatever is left. The oddest thing about this reverse-salary scheme is that you actually enjoy it and wish you could only do more.

Mothers, enjoy your Day on Sunday and children don’t forget to buy your Mum a huge box of chocolates.